Marley remains a hero even after death

an enduring symbol of reggae, a Caribbean style of music that emphasises social and political grievances with mesmerising melodies.

The cannabis-smoking Bob Marley, the leading prophet of the Rastafarianreligion who died 25 years ago on May 11, remains an enduring symbol of reggae, a Caribbean style of music that emphasises social and political grievances with mesmerising melodies.

Among Hopi Indians, Bob Marley fulfilled a centuries-old prophecy.

The Nepalese consider him the incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu and Australian Aboriginals honour the reggae legend as a prophet for peace and the rights of the oppressed.

Marley lifted his voice fiercely and poetically against the suffering in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica, and the arrogant attitude of the white upper class.

The Nepalese consider singer Bob Marley to be the incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu and Australian Aboriginals honour the reggae legend as a prophet for peace

"Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war, me say war," Marley sang in the song War.

Marley accurately predicted his music would live on after his untimely death in a Miami hospital at age 36, when cancer had spread from a spot of melanoma on his foot to his brain.

After introducing Jamaican music to the world, Marley became the first musician of that country to achieve international stardom.

No other reggae musician has reached his level of fame.

Marley's popularity resurfaces with each new generation of young people as they experiment with marijuana.

The many images of Marley smoking a joint continue to appear on modern-day record releases and posters, and are a rallying cry for Rastafarians who consider cannabis a part of their religion that helps them get closer to their inner spirit - and who try to defend its use as such when they are arrested.

Marley drew huge audiences around the world and he died when his star was still on the rise. Some people consider the charismatic singer and songwriter the greatest rock star of all time.

Aside from reggae, Marley gave the world dreadlocks and red, green and yellow crocheted caps - colours synonymous with the Rastafarian movement, of which Marley was a member and later its most important prophet, especially among the poor people of Jamaica where the religion developed.